I was digging through a shelf of “to review” whiskeys and found this open bottle of Gambler 500 Whiskey sitting in the back. I don’t remember where it came from, likely a tasting, but looking on the back and seeing the infamous “produced and bottled by” I knew I had to grab it and dig in.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with those words, so long as they’re accompanied by a state of distillation – at the very least. Though, more often than not, these words are a bad omen… like they are here. The label only states that it’s “craft distilled” and “made in Oregon” which tells us exactly… nothing. It could be distilled in Vermont and “made in Oregon” because they bottled it there. This bottle is home to several meaningless whiskey phrases.
Searching around the internet I discovered, via a press release, this whiskey has a mash of 80% corn and 20% malted barley, is aged 4 years and was released in 2019. 503 Distilling was founded in 2017 according to their site so it’s very obvious this was sourced… but from who? Despite my searching, I couldn’t find the source. Though being a closed-lipped NDP the source could change regularly, and it possibly has since the site now states something totally different than that press release.
Looking at the 503 site, the Gambler 500 is now listed as “A unique blend of rye and corn mash aged for 5 years in neutral American oak”… which raises so many questions beyond the utterly abysmal lack of transparency and light attempt to sound like they distilled it. Were the rye and corn mashes distilled separate a’la Canadian Whisky? Were they blended before or after aging for 5 years? By “neutral American oak” do they mean 2nd or 3rd refill casks or totally untoasted, uncharred casks? I assume the former, but why? Do they hate flavor?
I can’t actually speak to their love of hate of flavor, but I can speak to something I hate: vague garbage like this label and their site copy. When I see stuff like this I instantly distrust the company. Even if they are good people with good intentions, it’s hard to see past the total lack of good-faith effort to be transparent and inform the customer of what they’re buying. From the outside, all I see is a craft distillery being purposely vague with their PR copy.
And speaking of PR copy, based on another press release, it looks like it was an “American Whiskey made from 65% rye and 35% corn that’s then aged four years in oak barrels” in 2020. I guess for them “small batch” means changing the recipe each time. This whole situation is a freaking mess and if you got a recent bottle, then I guess you have one with rye, but if you have an older one it’s malted barley. The labels look the same, so who knows… take that into consideration when reading the notes below.
And now that we have all of that out of the way… let’s get to drinkin’ and see if this vague mess of whiskey is any good.
Gambler 500 Whiskey – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Region: Oregon, USA (?)
Distiller: Undisclosed, but very obviously not 503 Distilling
Mash Bill: 80% Corn, 20% Malted Barley
Cask: “Oak Barrels”
Age: NAS (4+ years listed online via press release)
ABV: 40%
Price: $30
Gambler 500 Tasting Notes
EYE
Light straw
NOSE
Metallic citrus, artificial honey syrup, alcohol, herbal, tannic and spirity with an ultra-thin slice of dried apples.
This is crazy light, it makes the High West Light Whiskey seem like a Booker’s Bourbon in comparison.
PALATE
Raw corn, spirity vanilla, metal, stale baking spice and chalk with a dry-tannic note as it begins to fade.
This is just plain unpleasant. It’s tannic, raw and spirity… no. Just… no.
FINISH
Short -> Stale spice, herbal and banana chips quickly fade out to a tough metallic note.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
I can’t believe the bottle is standing up it’s so off-balance, thin-watery body and a dry feel that builds as you sip.
Gambler 500 Whiskey – Overall Thoughts and Score
I’m having a hard time getting much out of the nose besides metallic citrus; the other notes come as faint wisps and hints. And it doesn’t get any better on the palate. The raw corn is the only prominent note, the rest is super light and airy. I have to sit and think and take more time than usual to pull out notes, and I don’t feel like the effort was worth it because this is not good. At all.
Initially, I was thinking this was a corn and barley edition, but I picked up just a hint of rye spice making me think somehow I got a rye version. But then, who the hell knows. Their label is garbage, their site is useless and they’re vague as hell in all their press releases. This is a perfect example of why I don’t do research on something before I do my tasting notes… and also why I refuse to buy anything that’s not a straight whiskey with proper labeling.
If I had completely read the label and then went down the “what the hell is this” rabbit hole before tasting this, I would have been as angry and frustrated as I am writing this paragraph and all of the others before it.. I would have given it an immediate 0 and the notes would have been nothing but flippant barbs. That’s why I try not to let outside influences in, as much as possible, when tasting because I take my “job” seriously. I wish the people “making” the Gambler 500 Whiskey felt the same.
SCORE: 0.5/5
Gambler 500 Whiskey Review $30
Summary
This is just plain not good whiskey. I honestly just don’t have anything else to say about it.
Overall
0.5- Nose (0.5)
- Palate (0.5)
- Finish (0.5)
- BBF (0.5)
User Review
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